How about good old fashion and simple on course regular flex versus stiff flex driver challenge ? No crazy stats required? Just your honest opinion! Cheers from my brand new golf channel. AvEgolFFlog
In order for this test to be valid, like others mentioned, you would need to keep the swing weight the same as when the regular length shaft is in. Adding loads of lead tape to the bottom of the driver until the swing weight is back proper, then hit it.
This is extreme….and love it . Play my driver at 43.5” and still choke down on the grip. I’m a shorter guy. Tried Cobra RadSpeed one length hybrids this year. Fantastic!
Great video again.Thanks. I've done this , got some research based anecdotes: Try more upright set up, swing to top more upright. More like ironswings . Straightens Up shot. Try adding more weight to clubhead, "Up to 4 iron feel". Think 5 iron - 1iron length gives a great Linksstyle Club. Good Luck everybody.Peter Carsbo.Professional Golfer.(,former ET,Asian,California Tour Player/Winner.
@@AlexElliottGolf You've also ruined the loft and lie aspects of the driver head, which was designed for a 45-inch length. It shouldn't be a surprise that it went low left. But I watched, which is the whole point anyway.
If you're open to revisiting this experiment, you should try adding weight to the driver head for consistent swing weight and perhaps adjusting the loft on the driver with shorter shaft. I have a feeling that the attack angle with the shortened shaft isn't the same as the standard length shafted swing. A bit of an extreme experiment, but entertaining. The 5 wood length shaft was certainly more realistic.
That much of a difference is going to screw up swing weight and pretty much every aspect of that shaft’s profile. When I first read the title, I thought you were going to try a 7 WOOD length shaft. Now, that would be interesting and a possible real alternative.
I tried that once. The driver felt so short and... like a toy. My shots went more to the left side but did not lose any distance. I guess I made a better contact with it than with a proper shaft.
You not only change the weight of the shaft, but now the kick point becomes out of whack…I suspect that was the main reason for the hooks. Swing speed was indeed a surprise! Fun vid!!!
Love the video and comparison! If you could do a comparison of same length irons vs traditional irons (speed, accuracy, and distance) that would be very informative to those thinking about trying same length irons. Keep making great content!
I been using a 42" Callaway Big Bertha 816 and been averaging drives over 220 yards. I'm 74 years old now have more accuracy (+95%) with this length than when the driver was 45". I notice the difference in distant when I lower the loft to 9* rather than 10.5*. Could you try your driver at 43* or 43.5* with a lower loft and see if there is a big difference to your current driver in distant? I plan to get another driver and have it made to a 43.5" and have it at 9* loft.
Good to see a good TH-camr try this. Just saw the "people's golfer", 7 hdcper, do this on his "mates" channel with good results. Both on my favs list. Thanks
Interesting concept Alex. I hit 3W off the tee bc i dont hit my driver very well, BUT i do smoke that 3W just as far. Maybe a 3W shaft in a driver?????
I have been experimenting with short drivers for decades because of needing to find the fairway in competitions. Today's drivers are just too long for me to swing fast and accurately, the club tends to get stuck behind me. I find the optimum length is 40 inches with a regular or senior flex shaft and more head weight to bring the swing weight back to D-2 or D-3. I'm 71 years old and tee shots of 240 yards are fairly regular.
Alex, would love to see thoughts/drill on HOW we get lower body starting the downswing, creating separation. We KNOW we’re supposed to. But I often FEEL like a “waist up” player because I can’t FEEL how to or how much to “delay” the upper half in order to “stay behind,” “create coil for power,” etc
Hey I saw this and this is really what I was wondering. First off you really need to adjust swing weight so you still have same club feel but could you create the ultimate fairway finder by having a high lofted driver (12-14 degrees) at 3 wood length or less vs a 3 wood. Which one would be better off the tee? I have been thinking about this because there's far more tech in drivers and than 3woods and for the couple of times you hit 3 wood off the fairway would it be better to have a second driver. This is not necessarily one setup for draw vs fade (although I would probably prefer one that faded for my shorter distance club) but one optimized for distance and the other for minimum dispersion. So perhaps give up 25-35 yards to normal driver with a but be more consistent than a 3 wood because of the size of the face and moi.
Since I've had a 460CC head driver I've had it about 2.5" below the standard length (I got it about 17 years ago, no swappable shaft designs then) -- I call it my "thriver" as it's more like a three-wood 10.5° driver. My clubs are otherwise standard length (I'm 6'1" but know that relates to fingertips to ground and not my height anyway). It's alarmingly accurate (hitting on a range that extends into a lake so I can see exactly where it lands) -- a no-name brand (Lind) I got online from a custom club assembly site, even for mis-hits. I don't mind the distance trade-off and the swing is comfortable. No immediate plans to revert back to a standard length shaft.
was searching for a comment like this. I play a 12 degree cut down to about a three wood length (43.5) and it is dead straight more often than not. Lost a bit of distance but I dont care if I'm in the fairway
I would like to see you do this again but split the difference between 7 iron length and driver length. So make the shaft 41" and ball placement distance should also be split in half. Your contact with the 1st 4 balls was inside out but massively on the bottom of the driver face causing those arc draws, ball placement and height solve this.
Interesting experiment I have tinkered with this in the past. Certainly a shorter driver is easier to control. The problem as many have said is shaft is too stiff when you cut it off. To complete evaluation you need to achieve same or similar flex, loft, lie as standard to get similar kick path and face. I am not sure path is super important but fcae at impact has to be critical. Many variables I have gone the other way as well and built a 52 inch driver. Almost impossible to close the clubface but when you time it perfectly it will launch into the stratosphere and carry LONG Of course USGA limit is 48 inches My present driver is standard 45 in Taylormade m5 and I excercise the option to choke up to 43 or 44 when I need to hit a tight fairway If your instruction continues to improve my game I will look again at 48 inch driver. Although finding the right shaft for my 63 yo swing is an expensive mission usually and my present driver is very good Thanks for your help and kindness Cheers from Texas!
I did this exact same experiment 10 years ago with a spare driver head and I got similar results. First thing that surprised me was the lack of launch angle. The ball went less far not because of the lack of club head speed, but because it didn't launch high enough.
Aside from swing weight, you are also changing the flex by cutting the stiffest part of the shaft off. Also, what does that do to the angle of attack and spin. I’m sure it was fun but it does mean much.
I think the shortened length lowered the swing weight quite a bit making you release the club head faster. This kept the club speed up but closed the club face early. I think you have to purposely hold the release, like trying to get excessive lag and then release the club head. That might get further straighter drives. I think that last one you sort of did that which is why it pushed a little right though went the farthest.
You should only have turned the loft down to 9 and it would have went straight. I have already done this before and it worked out perfectly on long par 3's
Fun comparison! Here's my observations: pretty high backspin rates for both clubs, essentially identical smash factors, pretty low max heights for both clubs near as I can tell from video.
As someone that plays 1 Length irons, I shortened my driver/woods from the standard length but not to 1 Length configuration. Take about 2 inches linear off the shaft and try again. You would be surprised at the difference. Also noticed in this demo that your spin rate was lower on the short shaft which should lead to more roll in drier conditions.
Nice video! I shortened my driver shaft to 41 and my results was 90% fairways hit compared to the 45 inch shaft…PXG 0211 / 9 degree. Then I increased all of my standard irons by 2 inches…. my 9iron went from 135 carry to 145 avg and didn’t have to swing harder…PW and AW irons were super. Curious if u could experiment with ur 9iron and lengthen it. I am now a new subscriber.
Did you correct swing weight after cutting down driver? You would have to add massive weight to the head to get back to the pre trim swing weight. To light a swing weight makes club hard to control, (hit center of face). Keep experimenting, interesting stuff, tks.
7 iron length is pretty extreme (although amusing). A more approachable comparison, say 44 or 43.5 inches would help people who may be considering shortening their drivers. Also, testing swingweight and adding lead tape to maintain the swingweight would be beneficial. Thanks in advance for being a part of the YT golf brigade that is going to help me get through the Loooooooong off season here. Cheers.
@@AlexElliottGolf probably would need 30 plus grams of head weight to get it into the C range. I appreciate your experiment, but would like to see you cut an inch off 44 3/4 - 44 1/2 and see what improvements can be had for us hacks. Keep it coming. 👍🏻
Cut the driver length to 5W, 7W, and 9W lengths. I will be very interested to see the results. And feedback on which length it is easy to hit the driver. Thanks!
Your clubhead speed (linear) is related to the moment of inertia of the club and the angular velocity. The higher the MOI (which is related to length and weight) the lower the angular velocity and vice-versa. So the net result is that your swing speed remains pretty much the same. The carry distance was not a result of your swing speed but more the lack of flex in the shorter shaft.
The reason for the shot shaping is you cut off the stiffest section of the club, leaving the whippy tip section. If you remove some of the parallel grip section thats ok as it has almost no flex. As you eat into the tapered section you lose stiffness. You can reduce the tip section length to raise the stiffness. I did driver mod for a guy. He was 5ft 6 and used slice. Could not hit up as too long and he was short. I tipped the head end about 20mm and took 45mm off butt end. He was transformed, describing it as. I dont know what he did but its amazing. I never told him i reduced the butt section too.
@@oscarbevz2053 yes that would have been the way to go. Also to weight match head with existing iron head .. so bang on like for like. A 3 wood head on a 5 wood shaft is a good compromise. Great off the T and great off fairway.
@@AlexElliottGolf i was talking about at about 5:29 the grip that has the white end caps and the one on the other side of the bag looks like you have extra tape or almost an o-ring in the grip to give it the bump. i was wondering what your purpose for that was
Are you playing it in the same place in your stance as you do your normal 7? Wouldn’t that change the where the club bottoms out and so now you’re closing the face because it’s too far forward in your stance if you are playing it where your normal drive ball would be?
2things: 1) Can you elaborate on the circumstances a relative beginner (like me) might benefit from, for example, a 42” driver and 2) Can you explain whether a super-max-jumbo-light-fat driver grip might help us newer golfers feel like we have more control on the stick?
Nobody should play a driver below 43", especially as a beginner: you won't have enough clubhead speed to get the ball in the air with such low loft. Secondly, the shorter a club is, the "lighter" it feels (i.e. swing-weight). If you are a starting: maybe 44.5 or a 44" driver might help, but generally you might want the shaft to be a 70 gram shaft, or add some weight to the head in order to bring swing-weight back to a range where you can work on your tempo and timing. The added head-weight will actually make the ball go further for a given swing speed (because more mass is compressing the golf ball) and the shorter length will help with dispersion/hitting speed spot more often.
Go somewhere where you can test different setups on a trackman. I figured out that I actually swing my driver faster with a 3w shaft in it. Dont know exactly why but think the sense of added control makes me able to swing more aggresively. Be curious and you will find out what works best for you 💪 For me: short shaft, thick grip seems to be the answer.
Several of your other viewers have noted some of the problems. Swing weight, kick point, shaft flex, and lie angle are all going to be way off optimum with your "just cut it down" technique. Some suggested you try a 7 wood shaft; that's a good idea. Not sure they make junior driver shaft lengths w appropriate stiffness and kick point but you'd have to get a head w altered to lie angle also to get this short driver set up optimal.
Alex, take and old graphite shaft to your Pro shop and have him extend that driver to 40". Another instructor JH at One Atomic golf shorten his to 40" and had good success. He did not add weight to head. I tried the 40" shaft and weighted it from inside the head with Tac but and it did not preform well. You may be able to use the shaft your Pro shop cut off. I would put 2" of length inside the shaft.
I cut my Ping G425 Max from 45.75" down to a 42.75". Lost about 20 yards off my carry... yup, that sucks... but I do hit a more fairways and the ball stays in play a lot more.
Thanks, nice to see the curiosity for variation in equipment. if the object were to compare relative swing speeds at the two lengths then this was a valid test. If distance and control were to be judged then I'd think swingweight and overall weight would have to be altered. I'd think, for example, swingweight of the 37 inch driver would be in the area of C-2 which would be extremely light in feel. Likewise the overall weight of the club would be reduced further dampening any feel of where the clubhead was in the swing. It would really be interesting, I think, to see driver at 37 inches, D-0 swingweight and overall weight in a normal range. Then see what a good swinger like Mr. Elliott does with it.
interesting that the much lower spin (-1000rpm) gave enough extra roll to lower the overall gap to 26yds. It would have been great to see a progressive change in length (say in 1.5" increments) to see where the optimum distance/Accuracy point was. At 37" the toe would be well up which would be why so many went left. My guess is that 43" may well be the sweet spot.
That club is easily 5-6 swing points lighter than normal. If you added some extra weight to the head you may pick up some distance. Might want to also lift that up to 12*. Nice video though. It looked fun.
Hi Alex! I love watching your experiment cos i did my irons up to 3 wood a few years back but with the length of 3 iron for all of them 😁😁. The only problem for me was i had my friend did the installations and he was not a certified club maker at all cos the head would fly off on each of my club after a few rounds 😃😂. Then i was too scared to even hit them cos i didn't know when one was going to come off. But my latest experiment was to put the XL jumbo maxx grip in all my woods and the LG jumbo maxx on all my irons and these i can truly say, they helped improve my game so much and i have no clue why they work out for me cos i am able to gain 10 to 15 yds per club which is a lot for me. Before i did this change, i almost quit playing cos my game was not long enough or consistent. The only problem for me now is if i go use or try out anyone`s club or even a demo, i cannot hit them cos they do not have the jumbo grip and that can be a problem. So make sure it would work for you first before you decide to switch your whole set which for me, i tried it out with my 7, 9, and PW first just to get my feel and direction on target. Hope this is not too long of a comment in cos in case someone wants to give this a try. Thanks Alex!
Alex. What about testing the one length 4 rescue and 3 rescue. I wouldn’t mind betting that you could hit them as far or even farther than the cut down driver. I think Cobra would put more weight into the short driver club head to compensate. What do you think?
a true "driver as a 7 iron test" would be to add weight to the head...7 iron head weight ~ 272gm and driver around 190gm...bet you get a bigger surprise with a more weighted weighted "7 iron length driver...!...I'm off to my shed to try that...Osc from Australia
All the material was cut off the butt, that should make the shaft “play” like it has more flex and it sure alter the torque and kick. It would be nice to see this redone with a seven iron shaft and a driver head.
Nice experiment! What do you reckon is the loss in ballspeed between say 2 degree C and 22 C ? I am training here in the winter and i feel my drives go 210m where they where 250 in the summer!
I did the same with 3 wood hoping to have consistent shots. , I felt it difficult to control the flight. Finally the shaft gave away and now 3 wood head is lying decapitated for months.
I use an air compressor, I think it's called in English, and a plastic tube to remove grips. Takes two seconds. Very easy. Blow air into the butt end of the grip, and shaft, the plastic tube prevents the grip from blowing up and very easy to remove.
My arms are slightly above average in length, so in theory slightly shorter shafts should give me optimum control without sacrificing distance. Any comments Alex?
At a recent tentative club fitting at my local driving range near Croydon I was being recommended LONGER shafts. Instinctively I knew that was illogical. Im glad you confirm my suspicions. Thanks !
A couple of years ago i was at the range with my son. I tried hitting his jr driver and hit it straight down the middle every single time and carried about 230. I loved it. In fact, I put his driver in my bag for a bit. But it also felt like it was going to snap so I took it out. I had an old driver at the house so I got my local shop to cut it down to 5 iron length. If I absolutely swung as hard as I could, I hit it well. But if I didn't swing all out, it always went left. I think this is because shortening the stiff shaft made it even stiffer, while my sons driver was anything but stiff. I'd like to try this again, but perhaps take a senior shaft and cut that down. Then it would be more like the jr driver I hit really well. I just don't want to waste a good driver testing this theory out
Strange.. when the shaft length is like 7 iron i do setup just like 7 iron (ball position in the middle) and hit it like 7 iron.. i got more control, straigther shot and distance was only about 6-8 yard difference from normal length driver with tighter dispersion.. if i set it up like a driver (ball closer to the left heel) i can see the clubface closing at impact and that resulted in the ball travelling right to left just like in the video.. but yeah cutting off regular flex driver shaft to 7 iron length do somehow makes it feel stiffer..
Hi Alex. Keep up the good work. I appreciate this is an old video of yours but came across it when looking at your Rad Speed vs LTDX video. My comment / question would be the fact that would you not agree that as soon as you cut a driver shaft, especially by that much, you are in essence destroying the performance and in fact making it not fit for purpose!? The reason being is the fact that it has certain kick points that are incorporated based on scientific research which would very much include the length of the shaft. You also have to consider, albeit to a lessor degree, the weight which would have been lost. Your test can only truly work by using a shaft that is specifically 37 inches long - and therefore would have been put together with the kick points in the right place and the designers would have also looked at the weighting. Love to hear your thoughts.
I actually just took my Mavrik Driver from 45.5 inches down to 44 inches and it made a real difference. Lost maybe 10 Yards but more consistent in keeping the ball in play.
Hi Alex, the most difficult shot for me is my second shot 3 wood. I have been thinking of cutting the shaft down but not to a 7 iron but by 2 inches to get closer to the ball. What do you think?
Instead of that, just go get fit for a 3, 4, or 5 wood. A quality fitter can check and change 20 things in 20 minutes while it will take you 2 months to check and change change 3 or 4 things.
You got to tee that way up. You're stooping down to hit it and that's slowing down your speed as well as getting no angle of attack. I'd use like a 4 inch long drive tee.
Cutting off 7 inches is such a gross change in length I am not surprised at the poor performance. My question, as. 78 year old, is “should I consider taking an inch or two off my driver?”. Would my club head speed increase and would controllability increase?
Can you swing your 7 iron at 109mph,or is it just that you have changed the swing weight to really light that enables you to swing the driver head that fast
The problem is the swing weight is soooooo off compared to your normal driver that it makes it impossible to control. You would have to put a lot a extra weight in the head
Haha, a one length driver, Cobra will be all over this. I'm on the one length train at the top end of my bag 3-7 and added the 3 the other day - first three shots on the course having not been to the range with it according to Arccos - 181, 201, 203.
@@AlexElliottGolf I've created a Frankenbag tbf LOL but every club is Cobra so at least there's that. I have an F8 driver, F9 3 wood, Utility 2, Forged Tec 3 One length, 4,5,6 Radspeed one length and then F9's for the remaining irons.
Interesting results. I was guessing at least a 10mph club speed difference. I wasn't thinking it would be nearly 30 yards shorter though. Did you have launch angle on the chart? I saw the spin was down with the short shaft. Cool video imo!
What would you like me to do next!! The most liked comment we will do it!! 🙌🏼🙌🏼
Gravity putter grip on a driver. Will the science claimed for putter control be converted to the driver swing.
How about good old fashion and simple on course regular flex versus stiff flex driver challenge ? No crazy stats required? Just your honest opinion! Cheers from my brand new golf channel. AvEgolFFlog
Early wrist break
Why do u keep liking without co.ment
Driver length 7 iron 😂
That was fun! Now how about a 7 iron head on a 45" driver shaft!? 🤔
Just because you can do something doesn't always mean you should 🤣
@@IIISWILIII lol true, but in this case I'm curious
In order for this test to be valid, like others mentioned, you would need to keep the swing weight the same as when the regular length shaft is in. Adding loads of lead tape to the bottom of the driver until the swing weight is back proper, then hit it.
How much light do you think it is
Swinging hard enough to push out a ripper @6:25 well done
Came here to see if anyone else noticed. 😂
This is extreme….and love it . Play my driver at 43.5” and still choke down on the grip. I’m a shorter guy. Tried Cobra RadSpeed one length hybrids this year. Fantastic!
Same im about 5'5 cut it 43.5 and j gained distance...rory plays a 44 for God sake...amateurs swinging the 45.75 inch driver is counterintuitive
Great video again.Thanks.
I've done this , got some research based anecdotes: Try more upright set up, swing to top more upright. More like ironswings . Straightens Up shot.
Try adding more weight to clubhead, "Up to 4 iron feel".
Think 5 iron - 1iron length gives a great Linksstyle Club. Good Luck everybody.Peter Carsbo.Professional Golfer.(,former ET,Asian,California Tour Player/Winner.
As a club-fitter: I'm horrified at the modification.
That would have a swing-weight in the A5 range. You won't be able to feel where the clubhead is.
Agreed. He would have to put in about 50g of weight haha. I play a 44inch driver and had to put in about 20g to get it to a D2 swing weight.
It’s just a bit of fun 🙌🏼🙌🏼
@@AlexElliottGolf You've also ruined the loft and lie aspects of the driver head, which was designed for a 45-inch length. It shouldn't be a surprise that it went low left. But I watched, which is the whole point anyway.
If you're open to revisiting this experiment, you should try adding weight to the driver head for consistent swing weight and perhaps adjusting the loft on the driver with shorter shaft. I have a feeling that the attack angle with the shortened shaft isn't the same as the standard length shafted swing. A bit of an extreme experiment, but entertaining. The 5 wood length shaft was certainly more realistic.
I agree. Swing weight has to be wonky this short with no added weight
Swing weight very low if no tip weight used. Smash factor decreased drastically
I see you are using a Flightscope instead of the FS Kit. Testing out a new launch monitor or have you changed?
That much of a difference is going to screw up swing weight and pretty much every aspect of that shaft’s profile. When I first read the title, I thought you were going to try a 7 WOOD length shaft. Now, that would be interesting and a possible real alternative.
I tried that once. The driver felt so short and... like a toy. My shots went more to the left side but did not lose any distance. I guess I made a better contact with it than with a proper shaft.
You not only change the weight of the shaft, but now the kick point becomes out of whack…I suspect that was the main reason for the hooks. Swing speed was indeed a surprise! Fun vid!!!
Haha thanks Tom yea I couldn’t stop that lol what do you think we should do next
Love the video and comparison! If you could do a comparison of same length irons vs traditional irons (speed, accuracy, and distance) that would be very informative to those thinking about trying same length irons. Keep making great content!
yeah sure
I been using a 42" Callaway Big Bertha 816 and been averaging drives over 220 yards. I'm 74 years old now have more accuracy (+95%) with this length than when the driver was 45". I notice the difference in distant when I lower the loft to 9* rather than 10.5*.
Could you try your driver at 43* or 43.5* with a lower loft and see if there is a big difference to your current driver in distant?
I plan to get another driver and have it made to a 43.5" and have it at 9* loft.
That's pretty damn good for 74...I dont know many 74 year olds that can grt it out there that long on average
Good to see a good TH-camr try this. Just saw the "people's golfer", 7 hdcper, do this on his "mates" channel with good results. Both on my favs list. Thanks
Interesting concept Alex. I hit 3W off the tee bc i dont hit my driver very well, BUT i do smoke that 3W just as far. Maybe a 3W shaft in a driver?????
I have been experimenting with short drivers for decades because of needing to find the fairway in competitions. Today's drivers are just too long for me to swing fast and accurately, the club tends to get stuck behind me. I find the optimum length is 40 inches with a regular or senior flex shaft and more head weight to bring the swing weight back to D-2 or D-3. I'm 71 years old and tee shots of 240 yards are fairly regular.
Alex, I'd like you to experiment next with the concept of the extra large driver grips giving you longer drives. 🤔😃.
Thanks.
Hi Dennis let’s give this a go!!!! 🙌🏼🙌🏼
Just remember to grip the larger grip into the palms ala Moe Norman/ Todd Craves
Alex, would love to see thoughts/drill on HOW we get lower body starting the downswing, creating separation. We KNOW we’re supposed to. But I often FEEL like a “waist up” player because I can’t FEEL how to or how much to “delay” the upper half in order to “stay behind,” “create coil for power,” etc
sure ! i will try and address this in one of my videos
Ripping Farts at 6.43 🤣🤣🤣
Hey I saw this and this is really what I was wondering. First off you really need to adjust swing weight so you still have same club feel but could you create the ultimate fairway finder by having a high lofted driver (12-14 degrees) at 3 wood length or less vs a 3 wood. Which one would be better off the tee? I have been thinking about this because there's far more tech in drivers and than 3woods and for the couple of times you hit 3 wood off the fairway would it be better to have a second driver. This is not necessarily one setup for draw vs fade (although I would probably prefer one that faded for my shorter distance club) but one optimized for distance and the other for minimum dispersion. So perhaps give up 25-35 yards to normal driver with a but be more consistent than a 3 wood because of the size of the face and moi.
Since I've had a 460CC head driver I've had it about 2.5" below the standard length (I got it about 17 years ago, no swappable shaft designs then) -- I call it my "thriver" as it's more like a three-wood 10.5° driver. My clubs are otherwise standard length (I'm 6'1" but know that relates to fingertips to ground and not my height anyway). It's alarmingly accurate (hitting on a range that extends into a lake so I can see exactly where it lands) -- a no-name brand (Lind) I got online from a custom club assembly site, even for mis-hits. I don't mind the distance trade-off and the swing is comfortable. No immediate plans to revert back to a standard length shaft.
was searching for a comment like this. I play a 12 degree cut down to about a three wood length (43.5) and it is dead straight more often than not. Lost a bit of distance but I dont care if I'm in the fairway
I would like to see you do this again but split the difference between 7 iron length and driver length. So make the shaft 41" and ball placement distance should also be split in half. Your contact with the 1st 4 balls was inside out but massively on the bottom of the driver face causing those arc draws, ball placement and height solve this.
Interesting experiment
I have tinkered with this in the past. Certainly a shorter driver is easier to control. The problem as many have said is shaft is too stiff when you cut it off. To complete evaluation you need to achieve same or similar flex, loft, lie as standard to get similar kick path and face. I am not sure path is super important but fcae at impact has to be critical. Many variables
I have gone the other way as well and built a 52 inch driver. Almost impossible to close the clubface but when you time it perfectly it will launch into the stratosphere and carry LONG
Of course USGA limit is 48 inches
My present driver is standard 45 in Taylormade m5 and I excercise the option to choke up to 43 or 44 when I need to hit a tight fairway
If your instruction continues to improve my game I will look again at 48 inch driver. Although finding the right shaft for my 63 yo swing is an expensive mission usually and my present driver is very good
Thanks for your help and kindness
Cheers from Texas!
good to hear your thoughts and glad you enjoyed the video
He took the length off from the butt, so it's not stiffer.
I did this exact same experiment 10 years ago with a spare driver head and I got similar results.
First thing that surprised me was the lack of launch angle. The ball went less far not because of the lack of club head speed, but because it didn't launch high enough.
Great test. What were the angle of attack and vertical launch numbers? May be also good to see you hit it off the deck.
very helpful, love this video
Aside from swing weight, you are also changing the flex by cutting the stiffest part of the shaft off. Also, what does that do to the angle of attack and spin. I’m sure it was fun but it does mean much.
Thanks for doing this. So i dont have too. Just ordered a set one length and contemplated this.
I think the shortened length lowered the swing weight quite a bit making you release the club head faster. This kept the club speed up but closed the club face early. I think you have to purposely hold the release, like trying to get excessive lag and then release the club head. That might get further straighter drives. I think that last one you sort of did that which is why it pushed a little right though went the farthest.
You should only have turned the loft down to 9 and it would have went straight. I have already done this before and it worked out perfectly on long par 3's
Lots of fun Alex.
Thank you.
you’re welcome
Fun comparison! Here's my observations: pretty high backspin rates for both clubs, essentially identical smash factors, pretty low max heights for both clubs near as I can tell from video.
As someone that plays 1 Length irons, I shortened my driver/woods from the standard length but not to 1 Length configuration. Take about 2 inches linear off the shaft and try again. You would be surprised at the difference. Also noticed in this demo that your spin rate was lower on the short shaft which should lead to more roll in drier conditions.
Agreed _- I took 1.5 inches off my Rad Speed driver and never looked back. Also included lead tape on the bottom
Crazy test. Is it the length of a junior driver?
Brilliant not just the short lengh .but reusable grip keep up the great work .you have a new subscriber cheers
Nice video! I shortened my driver shaft to 41 and my results was 90% fairways hit compared to the 45 inch shaft…PXG 0211 / 9 degree. Then I increased all of my standard irons by 2 inches…. my 9iron went from 135 carry to 145 avg and didn’t have to swing harder…PW and AW irons were super. Curious if u could experiment with ur 9iron and lengthen it. I am now a new subscriber.
How much distance did you lose with driver?
@@Mscott1529 average 15 yards. However, I play 5900-6100 tees and with the accuracy my scores are lower….I am 61 years
Did you correct swing weight after cutting down driver? You would have to add massive weight to the head to get back to the pre trim swing weight. To light a swing weight makes club hard to control, (hit center of face). Keep experimenting, interesting stuff, tks.
did you fix the swing weight so that it's not so light?
7 iron length is pretty extreme (although amusing). A more approachable comparison, say 44 or 43.5 inches would help people who may be considering shortening their drivers. Also, testing swingweight and adding lead tape to maintain the swingweight would be beneficial. Thanks in advance for being a part of the YT golf brigade that is going to help me get through the Loooooooong off season here. Cheers.
Hi Duffy!! These are great ideas!!! I will give theses a go for sure let’s make it crazy heavy!!!
@@AlexElliottGolf probably would need 30 plus grams of head weight to get it into the C range. I appreciate your experiment, but would like to see you cut an inch off 44 3/4 - 44 1/2 and see what improvements can be had for us hacks. Keep it coming. 👍🏻
Cut the driver length to 5W, 7W, and 9W lengths. I will be very interested to see the results. And feedback on which length it is easy to hit the driver. Thanks!
7:50 minutes in and you still haven't hit the driver
Your clubhead speed (linear) is related to the moment of inertia of the club and the angular velocity. The higher the MOI (which is related to length and weight) the lower the angular velocity and vice-versa. So the net result is that your swing speed remains pretty much the same. The carry distance was not a result of your swing speed but more the lack of flex in the shorter shaft.
Alex what are your thoughts on medium sized grips and jumbo grips
Yeah i like them tbf
The reason for the shot shaping is you cut off the stiffest section of the club, leaving the whippy tip section. If you remove some of the parallel grip section thats ok as it has almost no flex.
As you eat into the tapered section you lose stiffness. You can reduce the tip section length to raise the stiffness.
I did driver mod for a guy. He was 5ft 6 and used slice. Could not hit up as too long and he was short.
I tipped the head end about 20mm and took 45mm off butt end. He was transformed, describing it as. I dont know what he did but its amazing. I never told him i reduced the butt section too.
i would consider a 7-iron shaft rather than cutting a driver shaft...real test that way...
@@oscarbevz2053 yes that would have been the way to go. Also to weight match head with existing iron head .. so bang on like for like. A 3 wood head on a 5 wood shaft is a good compromise. Great off the T and great off fairway.
@oscarbevz2053 yeah an actual heavy steel shaft that would be intruding
Alex you are a wonderful teacher I trust you would do anything to help a student
Thank you so much Jimmy!!
Very interesting. I did enjoy the behind the scenes grip fitting.
Thank you! good to hear
Did I hear a birdie whistle at 6:45 ?😂😂
@alexelliotgolf what do you put in your grip on your irons at the top last inch or so? is it just extra wraps of tape to get a grip feel?
i have 2 wraps of tape around my driver all the way around
@@AlexElliottGolf i was talking about at about 5:29 the grip that has the white end caps and the one on the other side of the bag looks like you have extra tape or almost an o-ring in the grip to give it the bump. i was wondering what your purpose for that was
Are you playing it in the same place in your stance as you do your normal 7? Wouldn’t that change the where the club bottoms out and so now you’re closing the face because it’s too far forward in your stance if you are playing it where your normal drive ball would be?
2things: 1) Can you elaborate on the circumstances a relative beginner (like me) might benefit from, for example, a 42” driver and 2) Can you explain whether a super-max-jumbo-light-fat driver grip might help us newer golfers feel like we have more control on the stick?
Great idea on a video I think I have a great idea for a new video 🙌🏼🙌🏼🙌🏼
Nobody should play a driver below 43", especially as a beginner: you won't have enough clubhead speed to get the ball in the air with such low loft.
Secondly, the shorter a club is, the "lighter" it feels (i.e. swing-weight). If you are a starting: maybe 44.5 or a 44" driver might help, but generally you might want the shaft to be a 70 gram shaft, or add some weight to the head in order to bring swing-weight back to a range where you can work on your tempo and timing.
The added head-weight will actually make the ball go further for a given swing speed (because more mass is compressing the golf ball) and the shorter length will help with dispersion/hitting speed spot more often.
Go somewhere where you can test different setups on a trackman. I figured out that I actually swing my driver faster with a 3w shaft in it. Dont know exactly why but think the sense of added control makes me able to swing more aggresively.
Be curious and you will find out what works best for you 💪 For me: short shaft, thick grip seems to be the answer.
I shortened my old ping and started hooking the ball more often. Got me a cobra rad speed and love it. Gave my son the ping.
What was the 7 iron shaft ie different shaft, spec, tip etc🤔😉🙂
Haha 😂 I get you
Several of your other viewers have noted some of the problems. Swing weight, kick point, shaft flex, and lie angle are all going to be way off optimum with your "just cut it down" technique. Some suggested you try a 7 wood shaft; that's a good idea. Not sure they make junior driver shaft lengths w appropriate stiffness and kick point but you'd have to get a head w altered to lie angle also to get this short driver set up optimal.
great video and insight!
Alex, take and old graphite shaft to your Pro shop and have him extend that driver
to 40". Another instructor JH at One Atomic golf shorten his to 40" and had good
success. He did not add weight to head. I tried the 40" shaft and weighted it from
inside the head with Tac but and it did not preform well. You may be able to use
the shaft your Pro shop cut off. I would put 2" of length inside the shaft.
I put my driver head on a five wood shaft.....works awesome!!!! Almost same distance much better ball control.
I cut my Ping G425 Max from 45.75" down to a 42.75".
Lost about 20 yards off my carry... yup, that sucks... but I do hit a more fairways and the ball stays in play a lot more.
Thanks, nice to see the curiosity for variation in equipment. if the object were to compare relative swing speeds at the two lengths then this was a valid test. If distance and control were to be judged then I'd think swingweight and overall weight would have to be altered. I'd think, for example, swingweight of the 37 inch driver would be in the area of C-2 which would be extremely light in feel. Likewise the overall weight of the club would be reduced further dampening any feel of where the clubhead was in the swing. It would really be interesting, I think, to see driver at 37 inches, D-0 swingweight and overall weight in a normal range. Then see what a good swinger like Mr. Elliott does with it.
thanks for this!
6:25 sneaky fart xD
interesting that the much lower spin (-1000rpm) gave enough extra roll to lower the overall gap to 26yds. It would have been great to see a progressive change in length (say in 1.5" increments) to see where the optimum distance/Accuracy point was. At 37" the toe would be well up which would be why so many went left. My guess is that 43" may well be the sweet spot.
Depends on each person but generally speaking, a shortened club would present itself to the ball with toe lower and heel higher than they were
How tall are you? I’ve been thinking about cutting my 4,5 & 6 iron down to the length of my 7 iron.
Have you ever played a full round with a DeChambeau-style set of clubs?
no haha and i don’t think i could
That club is easily 5-6 swing points lighter than normal. If you added some extra weight to the head you may pick up some distance. Might want to also lift that up to 12*. Nice video though. It looked fun.
Hi Alex! I love watching your experiment cos i did my irons up to 3 wood a few years back but with the length of 3 iron for all of them 😁😁. The only problem for me was i had my friend did the installations and he was not a certified club maker at all cos the head would fly off on each of my club after a few rounds 😃😂. Then i was too scared to even hit them cos i didn't know when one was going to come off. But my latest experiment was to put the XL jumbo maxx grip in all my woods and the LG jumbo maxx on all my irons and these i can truly say, they helped improve my game so much and i have no clue why they work out for me cos i am able to gain 10 to 15 yds per club which is a lot for me. Before i did this change, i almost quit playing cos my game was not long enough or consistent. The only problem for me now is if i go use or try out anyone`s club or even a demo, i cannot hit them cos they do not have the jumbo grip and that can be a problem. So make sure it would work for you first before you decide to switch your whole set which for me, i tried it out with my 7, 9, and PW first just to get my feel and direction on target. Hope this is not too long of a comment in cos in case someone wants to give this a try. Thanks Alex!
Really interesting! and thanks for tuning in
Alex. What about testing the one length 4 rescue and 3 rescue. I wouldn’t mind betting that you could hit them as far or even farther than the cut down driver. I think Cobra would put more weight into the short driver club head to compensate.
What do you think?
Cobra RadSpeed one length hybrids….7 iron length and heavy heads.
yeah would be good!
a true "driver as a 7 iron test" would be to add weight to the head...7 iron head weight ~ 272gm and driver around 190gm...bet you get a bigger surprise with a more weighted weighted "7 iron length driver...!...I'm off to my shed to try that...Osc from Australia
How about trying a senior flex at the 7 iron length ? May just be a bit more flexible for more club head speed ??? Just a thought 💭
Thoughts anyone ?
All the material was cut off the butt, that should make the shaft “play” like it has more flex and it sure alter the torque and kick. It would be nice to see this redone with a seven iron shaft and a driver head.
Incredible test! Now what if you swap your 7-iron length shaft for a driver length one 😄😉?
Great idea let’s get It done 😂😂
do you hit it like a 7 iron or do you hit it like a driver?
I've been tempted to put a shorter shaft in my 3 wood for control
i perfect 7 iron
6:25 - a bit of gas? HAHA
Nice experiment! What do you reckon is the loss in ballspeed between say 2 degree C and 22 C ? I am training here in the winter and i feel my drives go 210m where they where 250 in the summer!
hmm i don’t think it would be that much!
6:42, is that what I think it was???? hahahahaha
Haha no it wasn’t… i would have editites it out 😂
I did the same with 3 wood hoping to have consistent shots. , I felt it difficult to control the flight. Finally the shaft gave away and now 3 wood head is lying decapitated for months.
I would like to see the results of putting a 3 wood shaft in a driver compared to the driver shaft.
PETER FINCH GOLF , TH-cam CHANNEL WILL ANSWER THAT QUESTION
Full Bryson mode… but in the opposite direction🥴Great quote
I've wondered this ever since I got my one length irons
Alex do you have an iron striking video
Hi Jimmy I sure do try this one th-cam.com/video/DX7mvc8cAPE/w-d-xo.html
Bro you farted when you swung the driver!😂😂 just playing bro nice content
😂😂
Hi alex, how many yards do you normally loose in winter with you're driver?
haha it’s hard to know but not as much as i would think, what about you?
Im loosing about 20 yards alex, or its my bad swing 🤣😂
Alex, how about fitting a 3 wood shaft on a driver?
Not a single word about SWINGWEIGHT! Amazing!
I use an air compressor, I think it's called in English, and a plastic tube to remove grips. Takes two seconds. Very easy. Blow air into the butt end of the grip, and shaft, the plastic tube prevents the grip from blowing up and very easy to remove.
My arms are slightly above average in length, so in theory slightly shorter shafts should give me optimum control without sacrificing distance. Any comments Alex?
that’s right yes !
At a recent tentative club fitting at my local driving range near Croydon I was being recommended LONGER shafts. Instinctively I knew that was illogical. Im glad you confirm my suspicions. Thanks !
Alex how about hitting a 45" 1-iron off the deck?
Interesting, I've wondered how a one length driver would go. Curious how the one length hybrids and fw would go too.👍👍
A couple of years ago i was at the range with my son. I tried hitting his jr driver and hit it straight down the middle every single time and carried about 230. I loved it. In fact, I put his driver in my bag for a bit. But it also felt like it was going to snap so I took it out. I had an old driver at the house so I got my local shop to cut it down to 5 iron length. If I absolutely swung as hard as I could, I hit it well. But if I didn't swing all out, it always went left. I think this is because shortening the stiff shaft made it even stiffer, while my sons driver was anything but stiff. I'd like to try this again, but perhaps take a senior shaft and cut that down. Then it would be more like the jr driver I hit really well. I just don't want to waste a good driver testing this theory out
Mate was that a little fart i heard on the second swing???
Strange.. when the shaft length is like 7 iron i do setup just like 7 iron (ball position in the middle) and hit it like 7 iron.. i got more control, straigther shot and distance was only about 6-8 yard difference from normal length driver with tighter dispersion.. if i set it up like a driver (ball closer to the left heel) i can see the clubface closing at impact and that resulted in the ball travelling right to left just like in the video.. but yeah cutting off regular flex driver shaft to 7 iron length do somehow makes it feel stiffer..
Hi Alex. Keep up the good work. I appreciate this is an old video of yours but came across it when looking at your Rad Speed vs LTDX video. My comment / question would be the fact that would you not agree that as soon as you cut a driver shaft, especially by that much, you are in essence destroying the performance and in fact making it not fit for purpose!? The reason being is the fact that it has certain kick points that are incorporated based on scientific research which would very much include the length of the shaft. You also have to consider, albeit to a lessor degree, the weight which would have been lost. Your test can only truly work by using a shaft that is specifically 37 inches long - and therefore would have been put together with the kick points in the right place and the designers would have also looked at the weighting. Love to hear your thoughts.
I actually just took my Mavrik Driver from 45.5 inches down to 44 inches and it made a real difference. Lost maybe 10 Yards but more consistent in keeping the ball in play.
Guessing about 15 mph less. Loving this vid👏👏
Thanks Shane!! Plenty more to come like this
@@AlexElliottGolf excellent. Cant wait👏👏
I shorten my driver by choking down. Or if I want extra length I choke up?
Hi Alex, the most difficult shot for me is my second shot 3 wood. I have been thinking of cutting the shaft down but not to a 7 iron but by 2 inches to get closer to the ball. What do you think?
Yeah that may work! when you go for fitting might be worth asking the question
Instead of that, just go get fit for a 3, 4, or 5 wood. A quality fitter can check and change 20 things in 20 minutes while it will take you 2 months to check and change change 3 or 4 things.
Get a 2 hybrid. It will solve all your problems
Was that a sneaky fart at 6:43? 😂
Haha i hope it wasnt!!
You got to tee that way up. You're stooping down to hit it and that's slowing down your speed as well as getting no angle of attack. I'd use like a 4 inch long drive tee.
Cutting off 7 inches is such a gross change in length I am not surprised at the poor performance. My question, as. 78 year old, is “should I consider taking an inch or two off my driver?”. Would my club head speed increase and would controllability increase?
Can you swing your 7 iron at 109mph,or is it just that you have changed the swing weight to really light that enables you to swing the driver head that fast
The problem is the swing weight is soooooo off compared to your normal driver that it makes it impossible to control. You would have to put a lot a extra weight in the head
Haha, a one length driver, Cobra will be all over this. I'm on the one length train at the top end of my bag 3-7 and added the 3 the other day - first three shots on the course having not been to the range with it according to Arccos - 181, 201, 203.
I used one length too!!! What ones do you have?
@@AlexElliottGolf I've created a Frankenbag tbf LOL but every club is Cobra so at least there's that. I have an F8 driver, F9 3 wood, Utility 2, Forged Tec 3 One length, 4,5,6 Radspeed one length and then F9's for the remaining irons.
Interesting results. I was guessing at least a 10mph club speed difference. I wasn't thinking it would be nearly 30 yards shorter though. Did you have launch angle on the chart? I saw the spin was down with the short shaft. Cool video imo!
this would be a good idea!